Mike Ashley's Sports Direct today issued a statement castigating what it said is 'fake news' about the company's boss-to-average-employee pay ratio.

The news in question was a story based on a report by research firm Pensions & Investment Research Consultants, which describes itself as 'Europe's largest independent corporate governance and shareholder advisory consultancy.'

The report claimed the Sports Direct chief executive's pay was 400 times its average worker's wages.

CEO Mike Ashley with some of the workers at Sports Direct

This would be the second-highest ratio of any FTSE 350 company, if correct. However according to the Sports Direct this is not the case.

'This is fake news that appears to have been either deliberately or recklessly circulated by an irresponsible organisation that is making headlines at the expense of Sports Direct,' said a spokesman for the retailer.

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'We have contacted PIRC to request a copy of the report and we will be writing to them to express our disappointment. It is incorrect to state that Sports Direct has the second-highest ratio of chief executive-to-average employee pay.'

'The incorrect data table was presumably based on an unvested bonus entitlement that was previously accrued by Dave Forsey, the former chief executive of Sports Direct.'

PIRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shoppers heading into a branch of Sports Direct in London

The spokesman added that Forsey's entitlement was accrued over several years, something he said was 'not immediately apparent from the published PIRC list.'

He also pointed out that Forsey chose to forego the bonus, and current CEO Ashley has never drawn a salary from the company.